


The Dark Is Here

by Chechilia



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-04-18
Packaged: 2018-10-20 08:25:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10658724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chechilia/pseuds/Chechilia
Summary: Somewhere in the universe, the dark is singing. Trapped in misery, he forgot the light, he forgot the pain.In his agony, he forgot his own name.





	The Dark Is Here

**Author's Note:**

> I don't really know what this is supposed to be. Their relationship is marked as M/M, though Merlin is more an entity than a man, and Arthur is something like half human.  
> In my mind the scene takes place at the edge of the world, where Merlin is some kind of Atlas bearing the universe on his shoulders.  
> Anyway I hope you'll like it.

There's a saying that goes around here. _If the dark catches you, you're dead._

But little did they know, there is no escape.

***

It was like a voice.

" The dark is here  
all around  
all around  
inside you !"

Again and again and again. Like a lullaby. Except, unlike lullabies, it never stopped. Not when they slept, not when they sang, not when they made love. And when they died...well, it was because the dark had finally caught up to them.

Sad ending, wasn't it ?

***

"The dark is here  
and all around  
all around  
chasing you !"

It was a never ending battle. The screams didn't matter, no more than the sobs, the cries of pain, the hunger. All they ever knew was emptiness : it was all the dark could bring.

And if sometimes they woke up with blood on their lips, it was their own fault, wasn't it ? It was their only fault for not keeping themselves from biting their lips in terror. The dark was in their dreams too, after all. Lurching in every corner of their minds.

***

It was like a child's play. A twisted game, full of anger and beautiful horror and pain. And oh, of course the dark never was the only player, but the cards were rigged : he always won.

" The dark is here  
dance all around  
and all around  
following you !"

It was like a nightmare. It was like dreaming on sleeping pills : being trapped. There was no way out, why didn't they understand ? It all was his, his for the taking. All of them.

And what if there was nothing, what if it was all he had left ? No one knew, no one would want to know. The dark was everywhere, but little did they know that it also lost everything.

***

But he could never say, could he ?

" The dark is here  
all around  
all around and  
Who are you ?"

The voice had changed, and it never had before. The song started to repeat itself again, but this time the words were always the same. They didn't know what was being asked, they didn't know what couldn't be understand, and no name would ever grace him of an answer. The voice didn't relent anyway, and if more than one was falling into madness, well. The others weren't too far behind.

***

But what could ever kill the dark ?

" The dark is here  
all around  
all around and "

"You know who I am. It's me, Arthur. I'm the child of the light."

He was a man, but his voice carried. The lullaby became frantic. All three verses, repeated until the end of time.

" The dark is here  
all around  
all around and"

" Inside me, too. I know. "

He couldn't reach him, could he ? He could sense the cold stare, the empty hands, the beaming heart. Too bright too bright too bright.

" It's alright. I'm here now. "

Too bright too bright too bright

" You don't have to be alone anymore. "

***

"The dark is here  
the dark is here  
the dark is here"

Four words and a lifetime of unaltered agony. Heaving chest and crying mess and singing voice. Always so lonely. It was a life they couldn't understand, terrifying but so afraid, waiting to be killed by the words that haunted them, that taunted them, bright words full of bold anger and a whisper of barely concealed hopelessness.

" I found you now. You don't have to sing anymore. It's alright. I'm here. I'm here. "

***

His tongue was so heavy. His throat was burning. A few screams occurred. Madness unleashed under a sky of misery. Unseeing and so far away. The very lungs of the universe (he bore it on his shoulders) took a deep breath. The dark closed his eyes least he would be blinded.

" The dark is here  
all alone  
and all around "

" The dark was never here. It was you all along. Remember yourself. You had a name, once. "

He kept chanting.

" Merlin. Your name was Merlin. I found you. I found you. I'm not leaving you again. "

The name echoed. He knew there was no hope but he hoped anyway.

***

" The dark is here  
all alone  
and "

" Please don't kill them. You've done enough. "

He was sorry of course, but what could he ever do ? The dark never felt : it only killed, tortured, pushed men toward the cliffs of their own decline, the joyfulness of their unburnished falls the only thing keeping him sane. Not that he had a clear mind to begin with, mind you. His only light had be stolen long ago.

" I'm here. Please. "

And if there were cries to be heard and tears falling down his ghostly cheeks, well. He wasn't sure anyone could even hear him anymore.

***

" The dark is here  
all around  
and all around  
killing you !"

" I wish. "

The voice was cracking now.

" But you're doing worse. "

But what if ? If he heard him then, he could see him, recognize him, lo...

No. He couldn't.

***

" The dark is here  
all around  
and all around  
choking you ! "

He was right after all, without even knowing it. The voice seemed suffocated.

" I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. "

And he couldn't get enough. Like a drug, like the lifetimes he spent not alone - so cold, was he ever war...no - but the war never ended, with himself, and. It seemed like time itself had ceased to exist.

***

That was why he had to give in : he couldn't have his lifespan prolonged for long again. He wouldn't bear it. The lullaby changed into a even softer whisper.

" The dark is here  
all around  
and all around  
leaving you "

There was a head snapping up somewhere, a scream of pure anguish, tears flowing freely no one knew where.

" No. Don't. "

He didn't have a choice but...

" It was me that left you, wasn't it ? "

It was him, of course it was him, eternal burden he longed to bear again, but he couldn't could he, not after all this time and the long lost love, but the dark couldn't could he, ever love, ever anyone why did it have to be the only out of his reach ?

***

" The dark is here  
all around  
and all around  
waiting for you "

It wasn't meant to be threatening. An explanation, only, an apology, perhaps, a heart bared of all layers of lies.

" Stop that. Please stop that. I looked for you. I came. I'm here now. I'm here. I'll set you free. "

He wished he could, after all, what was left for him except a few wanderers to burn his night to painful ashes ? He felt pain. Of course he did. He just didn't know its name anymore.

" Come back to me. I'm begging you. I can't...I just can't...Life without you has no worth. Do you...do you understand ? "

He left to save him, of course he understands. He was there too, he was the one to go on one knee to open his heart to bare his soul to get his very mind ripped out of his chest because of the one he had to save.

The cries never stopped. He still heard them now. But it wasn't his own anymore, was it ? He had become too dry to shed a tear. And if suddenly his voice came tighter, well. No one was there to call him on it.

" Please, " was his only answer. "Please. "

***

" The dark is here.  
All around.  
And always,  
Loving you. "

The song wasn't a lullaby anymore, merely a whisper, and echo. The words were soft and deliberate. A faded dream, a silent scream. A goodbye.

" I love you too. "

The silence that came after was deafening.

***

There is a saying that goes around here. _If the dark catches you, you're dead_. Little do they know, the dark doesn't have to : he's there, all around, and always, inside you.

And if no one ever sees him, well.

It's because the light has had him first.


End file.
